Spanish police dismantle major Mediterranean smuggling network, 78 arrested
Spanish and Algerian authorities have arrested 78 people while breaking up a criminal network accused of smuggling both drugs and migrants across the western Mediterranean. The group used unregistered high-speed boats to move synthetic drugs, weapons and people between Spain, Portugal and Algeria.
Spanish police, working with Europol, have dismantled what is described as one of the largest criminal networks operating in the western Mediterranean, arresting 78 people in coordinated raids across Spain and Algeria.
According to Europol, the group was linked not only to drug and migrant smuggling but also to violent robberies, extortion, illegal detentions and money laundering. Synthetic drugs were transported from Spain and Portugal to Algeria, while the return journeys were used to smuggle migrants and weapons back to mainland Spain and the island of Ibiza aboard so-called "ghost speedboats" — unregistered vessels built to evade detection, which are banned in Spain.
Searches were carried out at 17 locations across Spain, including Alicante, Almería, Cartagena and Murcia. Items seized included 18 high-speed boats worth around €5m, firearms, more than €25,000 in cash, 15,000 MDMA pills, as well as satellite phones, GPS devices and encrypted communication equipment.
Large profits from migrant smuggling
Europol said the network charged migrants up to €12,000 per person, with more than 50 people smuggled in a single trip on occasion. Profits from migrant smuggling alone are estimated at over €24m. Migrants were frequently transported in overcrowded boats lacking lighting or life jackets, often in poor weather, and investigators believe some suspects carried out sexual assaults and physical abuse, holding migrants in inhumane makeshift housing.
The suspects were primarily of Algerian origin, with ties to criminal groups in France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Poland. The announcement comes a week after around 78,000 migrants entered the Spanish North African territory of Ceuta, a surge blamed on online rumours of an open border. Most have since returned to Morocco, though the exclave's leader, Juan Jesús Vivas, said between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants remain there.
